Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq

    MOSUL, Iraq, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- A suicide car bomb Tuesday hit a police patrol in the city of Mosul, the capital city of Nineveh province, wounding five policemen and five civilians, a provincial police source said.

    The suicide bomber struck the patrol at the Mosul al-Jadida neighborhood, or New Mosul, in southern part of the city before midday, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

    The suicide bombing also destroyed a police vehicle and three nearby civilian cars, the source said.

    The attack occurred as Iraqi security forces intensify security measures in the city where local authorities were celebrating the 88th anniversary of the Iraqi Army Day.

    A military parade was underway in the northern part of Mosul during the attack, the source added.

    Nineveh province is said to be one of the last strongholds of al-Qaida fighters in the war-torn country.

    The province has been the scene of a major security crackdown by U.S. troops and Iraqi security forces, which aims at uprooting al-Qaida militants and other anti-U.S. insurgent groups.